1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for sorting cards in a predetermined order in a highly effective manner while boxes accommodating the cards are reduced in number. The invention also concerns a rack for sorting the cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
In the conventional apparatus of the above-described type, cards are delivered one at a time from a single hopper holding a plurality of the cards, sorting codes attached to the cards are read, and a card having the read code is accommodated in any one of a plurality of stackers in accordance with a predetermined sorting method. With an apparatus of this type, however, the number of stackers provided must conform to the number of cards to be sorted. In consequence, the apparatus itself is large in size and high in cost. Moreover, since it is impossible to increase the number of stackers without limit, it becomes necessary to change the sorting method and resort the cards a number of times when the number of classes for sorting is greater than the number of stackers. When performing the resorting operation, the cards that have already been placed in the stackers must be returned to the hopper, followed by changing the resorting method. This is a troublesome operation which lengthens processing time and increases the number of times the cards are introduced and extracted. As a result, the cards are damaged in a short period of time.